It was the very first thing one
heard when Disney’s animated classic “The Lion King” premiered in 1994, and the
first voice one hears when the movie is replayed on home media. It is the first
lines that will be sung when one watches the stage musical adaptation on
Broadway or any other venue around the world that hosts said production. The
beginning of the song “Circle of Life” features lines originally sung by South
African musician-producer Lebo M, in the isiZulu language: Nants ingonyama bagithi baba (Here comes a lion, father) Sithi uhhmm
ingonyama (Yes, it is a lion).
Those lines help set the tone for
the 2D-animated film; it also holds meaning for the photorealistic 3D-animated
remake of “The Lion King,” directed by Jon Favreau and released last week. For
the singer saying that a lion comes, and when the viewer sees the lions for the
first time in the remake, they would have to agree, like the singer’s
counterpart line says, it is a lion. Such has been the technological prowess of
Disney computer animation, first displayed in their 2016 remake of 1967’s “The
Jungle Book,” a recreation also directed by Favreau. The photorealistic
animated animals were of a secondary role there. They are primary characters
now.
Almost all of the live-action
remakes of Disney’s Animated Canon have met with some resistance from the “traditional”
and “purist” quarters of their massive fandom. “The Lion King” however, as one
of the biggest hits of their library and a veritable highpoint of the
Nineties-era Disney “Renaissance,” got one of the most intense scrutinizing
ever for its remake. It generated one of the loudest questioning on the right
of its production to even exist. Despite advances in movie effects magic,
despite its star-studded cast (nearly all of African or Afro-American
background), is it reasonably right to remake “The Lion King”?
In this review’s opinion: a
cautious yes. True, the story has not gotten too old beyond the 1994 film,
considering its Broadway musical is still going strong. Retelling “The Lion
King” in a manner so closely approaching real-life photography would certainly
make for impressive visualization. But there is also the charge of a
frame-by-frame adaptation, where the charge of frivolousness comes in again. If
all the same beats are carried over, what is the point when the original is
there already? To that, this review counters: can a story not be redressed for
viewing by a new generation of fans?
Followers of the House of Mouse
can recall the narrative of this film, about wild animals in the Pride-lands of
Africa, ruled over by a pride of lions from the aptly-named Pride Rock. Mufasa
the king welcomes a son and heir to the world, much to the annoyance of his
brother Scar, who seeks to rule instead. It has been said that “The Lion King”
is a reworking of the plot of Shakespeare’s grim tragedy of “Hamlet” into a
heroic story of fighting back against a royal usurpation, mixed with an
environmental message about the interconnectivity of organisms in nature.
With the plot so well and done
with, the real differences can be discerned in the voice cast. James Earl Jones
was the sole returning actor from 1994, and his older timbre in re-recorded
lines for Mufasa sells further his role as the wise king. His heir Simba,
voiced by Donald Glover and J.D. McCrary in childhood, is effectively realized
in the naïve cub transitioning to a traumatized soul hiding behind a wastrel
life, to a lion with a mission. Nala (Beyoncé and Shahadi Wright Joseph when
young) is a strong presence like in the 1994 original, and nails in her second
VA role (after 2013’s “Epic”) that she could make a secondary career here.
Playing the role of antagonist
Scar is Chiwetel Ejiofor, who is already a Disney regular with roles past and
future. In his own words he adds a more brutal edge to the sinister and
conniving lion usurper, delivered sheer menace that is complemented by the
nastier take on his hyena minions (Florence Kasumba, Keegan-Michael Key and
Eric Andre). The “Hakuna Matata” duo of Timon (Billy Eichner) and Pumbaa (Seth
Rogen) get a slightly beefed-up role in this remake. Conversely, John Kani’s
Rafiki was largely an extra who mumbled in isiZulu when not talking to another.
“The Lion King” is also a big
deal for its award-winning soundtrack, and its major creative forces in Hans
Zimmer and Elton John have returned to give the songs a new do-over. Beyoncé also
contributes her own new addition, “Spirit,” while doing a dynamic duet with
Donald Glover for “Can You Feel the Love Tonight?” About the only downer in
this recording was how her vocals as Nala seem to dwarf Glover’s as Simba,
giving the impression that she is bigger than the future king.
Trying to debate the merits of
remaking “The Lion King” will take too much of this review space and the reader’s
time. Suffice to say that conflicting opinions on the original and new version
will have to agree to disagree. For those who choose to give the remake a
chance watch, they can be assured that no time will be wasted. They will be in
awe of the photorealism, enjoy hearing the cast, and sing along to the numbers,
much like the original audiences from over two decades ago did. This movie has
a spot in the Circle of Life.
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